Here and Now

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is returning to the city from Washington, D.C.this morning, but has no public events scheduled.

The state Legislature is in session in Albany.

The jury enters its eighth day of deliberations in the Joe Percoco federal corruption trial, after announcing yesterday it was deadlocked for the second time.

President Donald Trump is traveling to San Diego, California today, where he will review border wall prototypes, after which he will deliver remarks to members of the military at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

This evening, Trump will participate in a roundtable with Republican National Committee supporters at a private residence in Santa Monica, CA.

At 9 a.m., the state Board of Regents and its committees hold a daylong series of meetings, state Department of Education, 89 Washington Ave., Albany.

At 9:30 a.m., nembers of the state Legislature, including state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, meet with lobbyists and activists, The Egg, 1 Empire State Plaza, Albany.

Also at 9:30 a.m., Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and 16 other people who were arrested protesting the deportation of immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir will appear before a judge, 100 Centre St., Manhattan.

At 10 a.m., the NYC Board of Health holds a meeting, Health Department’s Long Island City headquarters, 42-09 28th St., third floor, Queens.

At 10:30 a.m., New York State Planned Parenthood advocates rally and lobby New York legislators to support the inclusion in the governor’s women’s agenda in the state budget, Convention Center, Concourse, Albany.

At 11 a.m., Strong Nonprofits for a Better New York hosts a press conference with members of the state Legislature calling on the state to increase funding for wages in nonprofit contracts, Million Dollar Staircase, state Capitol, Albany.

Also at 11 a.m., NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor Palacio will make an announcement about New York City’s assistance to Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery efforts, Hispanic Federation, 55 Exchange Pl., Suite 501, Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., state Sens. George Amedore and Robert Ortt join Assemblywomen Linda Rosenthal and Aileen Gunther to urge state leaders to fund substance use disorder treatment and transition services in county jails, Legislative Office Building, LCA Press Room 130, Albany.

Also at 11:30 a.m., the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council, the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations hold a press conference to close the prevailing wage loophole in state budget, outside state Senate lobby, third floor, state Capitol, Albany.

Also at 12:30 p.m., the New York Immigration Coalition urges Haitian and Salvadoran Temporary Protected Status recipients to renew their status before the March 19 deadline, 131 W. 33rd St., Suite 610, Manhattan.

Trump blocked microchip maker Broadcom Ltd.’s proposed takeover of Qualcomm Inc. on national security grounds, ending what would have been the technology industry’s biggest deal ever amid concerns that it would give China the upper hand in mobile communications.

The president abandoned his promise to work for gun control measures opposed by the NRA, bowing to the gun group and embracing its agenda of armed teachers and incremental improvements to the background check system.

White House officials were reportedly alarmed by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ struggle to answer basic questions about the nation’s schools and failure to defend the administration’s newly proposed school safety measures during a tour of television interviews Sunday and yesterday.

A judge ordered the release of video footage expected to shine another spotlight on the Broward Sheriff’s Office response in the initial minutes of the Parkland, FL school shooting that killed 17 people.

First daughter Ivanka Trump will pocket more than $1 million a year from her family’s business while also serving as a senior adviser to her father, the president.

Donald Trump has long claimed that residential towers and condominium hotels bearing his name were more valuable than those of his competitors. But new analyses of Trump-branded buildings in Manhattan by two separate real estate companies show that far from leading the market, the president’s aging buildings are lagging behind.

The pilot of the helicopter that plunged into the East River told cops he believes that a loose tether on one of his passengers’ harnesses cut off the fuel switch, law-enforcement sources said, but one expert questioned that scenario, calling it “highly implausible.”

Liberty Helicopters has a spotty safety record that includes four earlier accidents — including a deadly midair collision with a private plane over the Hudson River.

The crash — the deadliest involving a helicopter in New York City since 2009 — exposed what aviation experts called startling safety gaps in the fast-growing industry of doors-off photo flights, once reserved for professional photographers but increasingly marketed to tourists.

Passengers’ best hope for survival in this sort of crash is to free a small blade from a shoulder strap and slash their way out of a complicated harness system designed to keep them safe in an airborne flying machine with no doors.

The five victims who died in this chartered helicopter crash included a Dallas firefighter, a video journalist and an Argentine tourist.

Kids and adults marched in Park Slope, Brooklyn last night to urge the city to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, after a horror car crash killed two toddlers there.

Jurors at the bribery trial of a former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco finished another day of deliberations after a second deadlock, writing in a note to the judge that they’d struck out after considering “the facts and the evidence with open minds.”

After discussing the note with prosecutors and defense lawyers, Judge Valerie Caproni ordered the jurors to keep trying. But If the jury reports a deadlock once more, Caproni said she will not consider instructing the panel to keep deliberating.

New York state lost a jurisdiction dispute with the FERC, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to review whether the federal energy regulator had big-footed the state when it gave the green light to a controversial natural gas pipeline project in Orange County.

Six men and six women were selected to serve on the jury in the corruption case involving former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and former Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto.

Voting 56-2, the state Senate passed a new sex harassment measure that makes it easier for victims to file complaints and harder for employers to silence accusers. Democratic Manhattan senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman were the only “no” voters.

Assembly Democrats unveiled a one-house budget plan that pushes a modified congestion pricing plan to send needed funds to the MTA. It would not charge regular vehicles to enter into the central business zone in Manhattan or impose bridge tolls, but add a $2.75-per-trip charge on for-hire vehicles like Uber, Lyft, black cars and limousines for any trips that originate or terminate below 96th St. in Manhattan.

Cuomo trained his crosshairs on seven New York Republican House members over the gun issue as Trump rolled out a school-safety plan long on NRA ideas like arming teachers and short on Democratic-backed proposals like universal background checks.

One of the seven Republicans targeted in the new Cuomo ad, Rep. Chris Collins, is using it to campaign cash, saying: “King Cuomo is scared.”

PolitifactNY determines that Rep. John Faso’s statement that most gun crimes are committed by those who illegally possess weapons is mostly true.

The mayor of Mount Vernon in Westchester County, Richard Thomas, was busted for stealing tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash, authorities said, and is accused of using $12,900 from his inaugural campaign committee to pay off personal credit card debt.

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said At a NYC Council budget hearing that his office prosecuted more than 7,000 fewer low-level criminal offenses in 2017 – and expects to “drive that number even lower” this year.

Video of Coeymans police using two patrol cars to run down and kill a potentially rabid raccoon at a shopping plaza has sparked outrage and a state investigation.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken a position in the heated debate over whether Brooklyn or Texas produces better barbecue — on the side of Texas.

In another slap at de Blasio, Cuomo “apologized” to tenants at a NYCHA complex in The Bronx for “disgusting” and “intolerable” conditions he saw during a tour, and said he will demand a full state inspection of the Jackson Houses so tenants can get repairs quickly.

Cuomo said that he was prepared to declare a state of emergency at NYCHA, which has come under fire for failing to provide heat and hot water to many residents this winter.

Cuomo also announced State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker — who was on the NYCHA tour — will open an investigation into health and safety hazards at authority developments citywide.

NYC Council members seized on the big raise de Blasio gave his new schools chancellor to push for raises for city cops.

David M. Solomon, a 56-year-old investment banker who moonlights as a disc jockey, has been anointed as the sole heir apparent to the chief executive of Goldman Sachs.

James Levine, whose 46-year career at the Metropolitan Opera established him as a towering figure in classical music, was fired by the company on after an investigation found evidence of sexual abuse and harassment.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s Geico unit agreed to halt the use of education and occupation as factors in setting auto-insurance premiums in New York.

The state Senate has given final legislative passage to a bill aimed at preventing consumers from overpaying for their medications.

Former Republican Long Island state Sen. Jack Martins has joined a law firm that helped defeat his bid for Nassau County executive last year.

The MTA’s tough “customers” will be the focus of a new executive position at the transit authority. NYC Transit President Andy Byford has hired a marketing exec to join his “top team” as chief customer officer, he wrote to staff in a March 5 memo.

Job growth was stronger last year in the Capital Region than originally estimated, according to new figures from the state Labor Department.

Town Supervisor John Strough and his wife were arrested by State Police on misdemeanor election law charges.

In a new approach, the DEC and researchers at Cornell University have developed a survey asking people about deer-related interests and concerns. The survey also asks how they would like to see the deer population in their area change over the next few years.

This entry was posted by Liz Benjamin on March 13, 2018 at 4:46 am, and is filed under Uncategorized. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Phil

Any pipeline votes today? We could sure use a plentiful supply of natural gas and with the fracking boom in our backyard it should be cheap.

pHiL

Or maybe the jury will come back with a guilty verdict today. Anyone know if Cuomo’s next?
The paid troll here is much like Joe P. in that Joe didn’t work for the state either yet he maintained an office. But wouldn’t that be confusion to the staff? Does he work here or not? Most would say he worked there with Cuomo.

David Dennison-c/o White House

Percoco jury likely to close down today. No retrial will follow as case can not be made when you rely on testimony of one person who proves to be dishonest in all his actions.

David Dennison-c/o White House

Please advise us which pipeline company you are working on behalf of? Your efforts to make this an issue are failing. The company paying you should look for someone with the skills to communicate their message and advance their interest. Why would they choose a minimum wage Senate shill to promote this message? Waste of time and money!

Phil

You’d love for the pay to play culture to continue.

Phil

Well I just read the courts approved the Millennial Pipeline but why is there so much résistance in NY that the courts have to approve pipelines?
Also just read about the supply constraints in NE where they’re now importing and buying LNG from Russia, your good friends but is that solid policy? Most would say NO but you and the Democrats seem to be ok with that.
As for your Wallethub BS study about NY being 21 in energy costs, you do know that’s 21st in the average bill? Wallethub said nothing about actual costs which is what I’m discussing. But you do like to use bad data all the time and if NY has an average utility bill of $75 that’s really sort of meaningless.

Phil

So why then are the Democrats ok with NYers paying more than they should? And it acts like a tax much like auto insurance rates in NY.
If only the Democrats cared, but you’ve read the Dems response, its a stone wall of silence they just don’t care. Its just another just suck it up and pay it issue for the Dems but it just doesn’t have to be that way. Especially when NY sits on top of vast energy resources.

Phil

#SaveAfrin

Phil

And Percoco’s going down for something, jury just asked with they could convict on some charges but not others. And the answer of course is yes they can.

Phil

Gov. Cuomo’s right hand man, Joe Percoco guilty on three counts of corruption. Is there any doubt Gov. Cuomo didn’t know what this guy was up to? That makes him guilty of the same. Let’s hope they put Joe away for a long long time. Trum you’re up next.

Phil

Looks like NJ Gov. Murphy’s going to stick to his residents hard with many tax hikes worth billions. I bet he’s a one termer.